Inlaid work of curved formation and method of producing the same



F,H.AULD

INLAID WORK OF CURVED FORMATION AND METHOD OF PRODUCING THE SAME FiledAuz. 27. 1926 v 2 Sheets-Sheet l IHMHHHH 1,641,955 Sept. 13, 1927. F. H-Y O PRODUCING THE SAME led Auz. 27.

Patented Sept 13, 1927. l

; 1 UNITED. STATES FFBEDRICK .AULD, or COLUMBUS, OHIO.

y l 1,641,955 PATENT OFFICE.

INLAID WORK OF CURVED FORMATION AND OF PRODUCING THE SAME.

Applicationfiled August 27, 1926. Scria1 No.' 131,874.

This invention relates to improvements in an article of manufactureconsisting in inlaid work of curved formation and of the methodofproducing the same. 7

-The general object of my invention is-to produce an inlaid article,such as a match box, a hair brush bacln' or a paper weight,

comprising a bendable metal design-plate and .a bendable wood veneerinlaid in the recessed spaces bordering the tracery of the design, andto produce this article by a certain methodby which the componentsof thearticle are respectively fabricated and treated and by which the veneercomponent is'made bendable and the several components united and inlaidone in the other and put into final curved form by a bending ste r Thedetails which pertain to this article and this method will inorevfullyappear in 1 the following specification.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a side elevation or edge view ofa, strip of Wood veneer.

Figure 2 is a plan view of a metal design plate with an illustrativedesign wrought thereon *Figure 8 is an edge view of a sheet of celluloidwhich enters into the composition of the article. 1

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a vessel containing a compound WOOd"softening 'li uid. I

. igure '5 is a-planlv'iew' of asheet of wood fvenee'r with-the designplate under :it, indicated by the dotted lines. Figure '6 is a view ofthe inlaid product or article prior to the bending step.

Figure 7 is a vertical sectional View of one form, of bending die forperforming the bending step in giving tlie'finalconfiguration to thearticle. i y

Figure 8 is a" perspective view of the article-preparatory to beingunited 'with a suitable member to form, say a matchbox Figure 9 is aperspective view of the complete product attached to such member.

Figure 10, is a vertical sectional view of another form of die fordifferently configurating the product. 7

In building up my improved curved inlaid article I employ sheets of woodveneer one of which, in a raw state, is indicated by the numeral 1. rThis veneer I immerse or otherwise treat with a liquid designed tosoften the wood vtracery which is in relief.

and to enter its pores so as to maintainthe wood in a submissive andpliable state whereby it may bebent or curved variously without crackingor breaking. The veneer is then further treated to a bath of solventliquid such as butanol. 1

I also fabricate on a metal plate, such as indicated at 2, a suitabledesign, either by the use of dies or by the well-known etching process.'VVhen the plate is thus formed, it

is coatedwith a solvent solution of camphor dissolved in a volatilesolvent such as methanol. V g V In Figure 3 at the numeral 3 I haveshown the edge of a sheet of celluloid. This sheet is to be placed uponthe design face of the metal plate next to the coating'of solventmaterial so that the solvent will partially dissolve the celluloid torender the face of the celluloid adjacent the design soft so that itwill be gummy or sticky to constitute an adhesive to bind the celluloidto the plate and later to bind the veneer to the plate;

I next apply the veneer, treated in the manner above described, to thecelluloid sheet so that the now composite article consists of the designplate, the celluloid and the veneer. The latter having been coated withsaid solvent will partially dissolve the adjacent side of the celluloidsheet and render this surface gummy or sticky for adhesive purposes.Vhat is here described appears in Figure 5 Where the veneer 1 and thedesign plate 2 are shown one on the other with the celluloid sheetbetween. This composite structure is placed in a suitable-1::

the heat of the press acting to further dissolve; the celluloid and thusrender it superficially sticky by which the wood andthe metal areintimately and permanently united-.j A pressure of 'aboutflOOO pounds avperiod of about ten minuteswith the temperature atiabout 115 C. V a

After this treatment the-composite structure is removed from the pressand the veneer is dressed off until the shattered parts thatoverlie thetracery of the design-have been'entirely removed and the tracery exposedthrough the remaining veneer which is now inlaid in the depressionsabout the per square inch is usually applied through 1 As the metalplate is of a bendable character, and as the veneer has been renderedpliable, the next step to bend both the plate and the veneer into thedesired curvatures or configurations ajipropriate to the particularproduct. To this end I have shown in Figure 7 a die member =-land apunch member 5, the former having a recess 6 corresponding in. outlineto the desired outline to be given the article and the latter having aprojection 7 corresponding in shape to that of the cavity and otslightly less dimensions so as to give room for the com posite articlebetween the walls of the cavity and the projection. Pressure is thenapplied to the punch to bend tl e article from the flat position shownin dotted lines at a to the curved condition shown at l) in full linesuntil the article tinallv assumes the form in dicated in dotted lines atc. It has been found that by reason of the aforesaid treatment of thewood veneer it will bend and conform itself to the desired configurationwithout cracking or splitting.

In Figure 8 l have shown the completed article, generally indicated at8, ready to be attached to any other suitable 1l'1GIT2l')Q1', if any isneeded, to build up a particular structure such as a match box, shown inFigure 9. The projecting tenons 9 form a convenient means of attachingthe ormnnental inlaid front of the box to the back designated 10. Thebottom of the structure may be closed in an desired way in those caseswhere a bottom is required.

Thus it will be seen that I have produced an inlaid article composed,essentially, of a metal plate with a design in relief and of a woodveneer inlaid therein with the qualit of bendability in the structure,the metal being bendable and the veneer rendered bendable withoutcracking or splitting in the manner stated.

' It will further be understood that the method described results inpractice in the production 01 this article. 7

It will be understood that I desire to comprehend with n my invention.such 1noditications as may be necessary to adapt it to variousconditions and uses.

Having thus fully described my inven tion, what I claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. An article of the character described consisting of a bendable metalplate having a. design wrought on one "face thereof, and a bendable woodveneer inlaid in the deprcssions adjacent the tracery of the design,with the tracery exposed through the veneer, the plate and the veneerbeing fashioned into curved formations, the structure in cluding anadhesive between the plate and the veneer, the said veneer having beentreated to render .itbendable.

2-. An article ot the character described, consisting of a bendablemetal plate having on one then thereof a design witha tracery in reliefand the surroumling surfaces depressed. and of a. wood veneer inlaid inthe (.lepressions and removed at places over the tracer-y of the design,and an adhesive between the plate and the veneer to bind them together.the veneer being also bendable, and both plate and veneer beingfashioned. into curved contours, the said veneer having been treated torender it bendable.

3. The herein described method consisting in fabricating a design on oneside of a bendable metal plate; in toughening and making pliable andbendable a veneer of wood by the application thereto of a softeningliquid in applying such veneer over the :lace ot the design with anintervening adhesive; in suliijecting this compos te structure topressure to inlay the veneer in the depressions about the design andshatter the portions over the tracery; in dressing oil the lace of theveneer to expose the tracery; and in, subjecting this compositestructure to a bending operation to give it a liorm char acterized bycurvatures.

l. The herein described method consisting in fabricating a design on theFace of a bend able sheet of metal; in applying to the design face ofthe plate a celluloid solvent; in placing a sheet of celluloid on thedesign over the solvent coating; .in subjecting a wood veneer toimmersion in a bath to soften, tougl'ien and make the wood pliable; inmoistening it with a. celluloid solvent; in applying such veneer uponthe celluloid sheet; in subjecting the whole to pressure and heatwhereby the celluloid is dissolved to form an adhesive and the wood andmetal are united, the wood being thus inlaid in the design on the plate;in dressing oil the surface of wood to expose the design; and insubjecting the composite structure to the bending action of dies bywhich to give the article a conformation characterized by curves.

In testimony whereof, I atlix my signature.

FREDRICK H. .AULD.

